Improved refrigerator



C.G.PAGE.

Refrigerator.

Patented April 2. 1861.

UNITED I STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES G. PAGE, OF WVASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ASSIGNOR TOGEORGE O. ROBERTS, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

IMPROVED REFRIGERATOR.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that 1, CHARLES GRAFTON I PAGE, of Washington,in the countyof Washington and District of Columbia, have invented an lm provementinRefrigerators and I do hereby declare that the following is a full,clear, and exactdescription of the principle or character whichdistinguishes it from, all other things before known, and of the usualmanner of making, modifying, and using the same, reference being had tothe accompanying drawings, of which i Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5represent in section several varieties of refrigerators to which myimprovement is applicable.

My invention consists in an improved mode of producingacirculation ofthe air of refrigerators, described and represented as follows:WVhenever ice is placed in a box, chest, or apartment at an elevationabove its floor or bottom, the air in contact with the ice becomescondensed and by its weight descends and displaces any warmer air belowit, causing it to rise, and this'in its turn, becoming cold and heavy bycontact with the ice, descends, and thus a movement or circulation iskept up as long as there is any difference of temperature in the airthroughout'the box, it being understood that the ice does not occupy theentire area of a horizontal section of the box, chest, or apartment, forin this latter case the air above the ice would be at rest and stagnate.If the ice is placed on a shelf at one side of r the box and above itsfloor, the air would be in motion over the surface of the ice; but therewould be considerable stagnation of air under the shelf and at parts ofthe box remote from the ice, and the principal movement or circulationof the air would be in the immediate vicinity of the ice. It is.important, therefore, that the whole, or as nearly as practicable thewhole, of the contained air should be compelled to circulate to preventstagnation, and also that the air should all be compelled to pass overthe surface of the ice, so as to condense the moisture of the air andpurify it of odors and mold. This is attained to an excellent purpose inthe refri erator patented by D. W. O. SanfordNovember 13, 1855, in whichapparently the highest degree of refrigeration, desiccation, andpurification of the air is effected by causing all the air to pass downthrough the open bottom of the ice-box directly upon the articles to berefrigerated. The use, however, of the openbottom ice-box is attendedwith some extra expense'of construction, and it is one of the objects ofmy invention to obtain a complete circulation and passage of the airover the surface of theice'without an open-bottom icebox, and this isaccomplished as herein to be described. The above refrigerator ofSanford'also involves a defect, inasmuch as its construction is notconveniently adapted to the chest or box form of refrigerator, for themiddle partition of that refrigeratorwould be in the way of free accessto articles from the top of the refrigerator. This might be accomplishedby making that partition or a part of it to slide up and down or a partof it made to open and close; but this would cause an extra expense.

My improvement is alike applicable to the chest and cabinet form ofrefrigerator, and is also applicable to quite a variety of forms.

The improvement is described as follows:

A is the refrigerator-box; B, the lid, cover, or top.

D is the refrigerating-chamber, and E is the ice-box. This box isperforated at the side F, the perforations being either holes in thesides or spaces between slats 8, these slats being so formed as toprevent the drip of water into the chamber D. All the sides except oneof the refrigerating-chest are made after the usual manner, either witha thick wall or a double wall filled in with non-conducting 'material.One of the sides 11 is made much thinner than the others, and this sideconstitutes the outer wall of the circulating-flue i. The object of thisthin wall is to produce an upward current in the flue by the highertemperature of the air in the flue than that in the chamber D,by virtueof its greater proximity to the warm atmosphere without, and thus it isevident that the descent of the cold air from the ice-box will press theair through the flue and force it to pass over the ice, where it becomescooled, dried, and purified, and'descends again, maintaining a constantcirculation. Although the outer wallH is thin and very permeable to heatfrom without, yet the flue acts as a non-conducting wall to the chamberD, preventing articles therein from being affected by the heat whichpenetrates the thin outer wall. The most simple construction for theexhibition of this principle is in the chest-form, Fig. 2. Figs. 1 and 3are designed forcabinet or closet forms. In these, as also in Figs. 4and 5, is' seen a peculiar mode of conducting the warm air back to theice-box, apart of the return-fine being in the top, and in case of thechest this flue w is in the cover or lid. The arrows in the severalfigures indicate the currents of air.

The wall a may be made of a good conductor, such as metal, or, if wood,so thin as compared with the other walls as to determine the upwardcurrent always within the flue.

I do not claim a circulating-flue for the upward current of air in arefrigerator, as that is found in the patent of D. \V@ (l. Sanford,aforesaid; but

I claim 1. The circulating-flue 1), constructed substantially as abovedescribed, in combination with an ice-box open on its sides, as hereinset forth.

2. In combination with said flue 'i, the flue 0c in the cover of thechest, as set forth.

CHAS. G. PAGE.

Witnesses:

.WM. 11. HARRISON, DANL. A. BRosNAN.

